Xenotransplantation and Maori

(Huarangatanga Iho Kararehe me te Māori)

English version

Māori as an ethnic group suffer three times the rate of diabetes and ten times the rate of kidney failure compared to non-Māori.

As a result, Māori have a higher need for donated organs and tissues, yet the rate of human donation among Māori is very low.

It may be possible in the future to use living animal cells, tissues and organs to treat diabetes and kidney failure.

These transplants are known as xenotransplantation or animal-to-human transplantation. The benefits of xenotransplantation may see potential gains in Māori health.

Māori may find the notion of xenotransplantation worrying and potentially inconsistent with tikanga Māori.

For many Māori, tikanga helps maintain balance and order in Māori society.

As such, some may view the transfer of animal organs as mixing the mauri, wairua, mana and whakapapa of different species, therefore disturbing the balance of Māori society.

What does this mean for a Māori as an individual and 'Māori' as a collective?

Should whanau be involved in making the decisions about whether to proceed with xenotransplantation? If so, to what extent should the decision of the collective override the rights of the individual?

Maori version

Ko te matawaka Māori ka pā kino ki ngā mate koni atu i te toru taima mō te mate huka, a, ka pā kino ki te mate whatukuku kōtahi tekau taima koni atu i te hunga ehara i te Māori.

Nā reira, e rahi ake ana te hiahia o te Māori mō ngā whēkau hakaora, me ngā kikokiko tuku, erangi he torutoru te āhua tuku o ēnei taonga kei waenganui i te Māori.

E hakapae ana a taihoa ake nei, ka taea te hakamahi i ngā iho ora o te kararehe, ngā whēkau hakaora katoa me ngā kikokiko hei maimoatanga i te mate huka me te mate whatukuku.

Ko ēnei momo huarangatanga e mōhio ana hei Huarangatanga Iho Kararehe, mai i te kararehe ki te ira tangata. Ko ngā hua ka puta mai i te Huarangatanga Iho Kararehe kei puta he tino painga ki te Māori.

Kei āwangawanga te Māori me te rangirua o te hakaaro ki te ariā o te Huarangatanga Iho ka kore e hāngai tika ki ōna tikanga.

Mō te tini o te Māori, ko te kaupapa tikanga te kaihakatikatika i roto i tōna ao Māori.

Mā tēnei, ko te mātakitaki o ētahi o rātou, ko te hakaurutanga o ngā whēkau hakaora he mea hakawhiti i te mauri, te wairua, te mana me te hakapapa o ia momo, o ia momo, ko te mutunga iho, ko te tutu ki te ora o te Ao Māori.

He aha kē te mutunga mō te Māori hei tangata kōtahi, hei hāpori ā-whānau, ā-hapū, ā-iwi raini? E tika ana kia uru katoa te whānau ki roto i te kōwhiringa me te hakatau mēna ka haere tonu ngā mahi mō te Huarangatanga. Mena koia tēnā, He aha kē te mana o te hakatau o te hāpori ki te hakakore i ngā tikanga o te tangata mō ōna ake hakaaro.

Diagram: What is xenotransplantation (animal-to-human transplantation)?

Xenotransplantation incorporates three types of procedures:

E toru ngā momo tikanga e hakamahitia ana e te Huarangatanga Iho Kararehe:

See figure at its full size (including text description).

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